European Political Turmoil and Distress of Nations
POLITICAL matters in Europe are, as ever, in a turmoil. No one knows how soon there may be a collapse of the Floquet régime; the following of Boulanger is constantly increasing, and many think that the very existence of the French republic is threatened. The Progressive party in Germany, by which is meant those in favor of limiting the royal power, criticise the Government in asking for an additional sum of 3,500,000 marks ($830,000) for the royal family. No necessity could be shown by the supporters of the bill for the increase, while it is sufficiently proved that the present income is every way sufficient, and the wealth of the royal family is enormous. Their lands are so extensive as to require division into seventy-seven stewardships, each comprising a number of farms. And thus German imperialism and large standing armies are crushing the very life out of the people, not only of Germany but of other countries of the Old World. Meanwhile Germany is ready to enter into a defensive alliance with England; and Prince Bismarck warns England that she “should put her house in order,” that she may be prepared for an attack from France. What turn the affairs may next take, what new figure tomorrow’s political kaleidoscope may show, no one can tell. Truly it is but a fulfillment of our Saviour’s words, “Distress of nations with perplexity.” The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. THE GIVING OF THE MANNA.
By Ellen G. White
The children of Israel traveled in the wilderness, and for three days could find no water to drink. They were suffering with thirst, “And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, and said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” The children of Israel seemed to possess an evil heart of unbelief. They were unwilling to endure hardships in the wilderness. When they met with difficulties in the way, they would regard them as impossibilities. Their confidence in God would fail, and they could see nothing before them but death. “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and when we did eat bread to the full! for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” They had not really suffered the pangs of98hunger. They had food for the present, but they feared for the future. They could not see how the host of Israel was to subsist, in their long travels through the wilderness, upon the simple food they then had, and in their unbelief they saw their children famishing. The Lord was willing that they should be brought short in their food, and that they should meet with difficulties, that their hearts should turn to him who had hitherto helped them, that they might believe in him. He was ready to be to them a present help. If, in their want, they would call upon him, he would manifest to them tokens of his love and continual care. But they seemed to be unwilling to trust the Lord any further than they could witness before their eyes the continual evidences of his power. If they had possessed true faith and a firm confidence in God, inconveniences and obstacles, or even real suffering, would have been cheerfully borne, after the Lord had wrought in such a wonderful manner for their deliverance from servitude. They had endured much in the service of the Egyptians, but now could not endure suffering in the service of God. They were ready to give up to gloomy doubts, and sink in discouragement, when they were tried. They murmured against God’s devoted servant Moses, and charged him with all their trials, and expressed a wicked wish that they had remained in Egypt, where they could sit by the flesh-pots, and eat bread to the full. The unbelief and murmurings of the children of Israel illustrate the people of God now upon the earth. Many look back to them, and marvel at their unbelief and continual murmurings, after the Lord had done so much for them, in giving them repeated evidences of his love and care for them. They think that they should not have proved thus ungrateful. But some who thus think, murmur and repine at things of less consequence. They do not know themselves. God frequently proves them, and tries their faith in small things; and they do not endure the trial any better than did ancient Israel. Many have their present wants supplied, yet they will not trust the Lord for the future. They manifest unbelief, and sink into despondency and gloom, at anticipated want. Some are in continual trouble lest they shall come to want, and their children suffer. When difficulties arise, or when they are brought into straight places—when their faith and their love to God are tested—they shrink from the trial, and murmur at the process by which God has chosen to purify them. Their love does not prove pure and perfect, to bear all things. The faith of the people of the God of Heaven should be strong, active, and enduring—the substance of things hoped for. Then the language of such will be, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name; for he hath dealt bountifully with me. Self-denial is considered by some to be real suffering. Depraved appetites are indulged. And a restraint upon the unhealthy appetite would lead even many professed Christians to now start back, as though actual starvation would be the consequence of a plain diet. And, like the children of Israel, they would prefer slavery, diseased bodies, and even death, rather than to be deprived of the flesh-pots. Bread and water is all that is promised the remnant in the time of trouble. “And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoarfrost, on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna; for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man, according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. “And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating, and when the sun waxed hot it melted. “And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over, lay up for you, to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord. To-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none.” The Lord is no less particular now in regard to his Sabbath, than when he gave the foregoing special directions to the children of Israel. He required them to bake that which they would bake, and seethe (that is, boil) that which they would seethe, on the sixth day, preparatory to the rest of the Sabbath. Those who neglect to prepare for the Sabbath on the sixth day, and who cook food upon the Sabbath, violate the fourth commandment, and are transgressors of God’s law. All who are really anxious to observe the Sabbath according to the commandment, will not cook any food upon the Sabbath. They will, in the fear of that God who gave his law from Sinai, deny themselves, and eat food prepared upon the sixth day, even if it is not so palatable. God forbade the children of Israel’s baking and boiling upon the Sabbath. That prohibition should be regarded by every Sabbath-keeper, as a solemn injunction from Jehovah to them. The Lord would guard his people from indulging in gluttony upon the Sabbath, which he has set apart for sacred meditation and worship. The Sabbath of the Lord is a day of rest from labor; and the diet upon that day should be more simple, and partaken of in less quantities, than upon the six laboring days, because we do not have that exercise upon the Sabbath that we have upon the other days of the week. Many have erred in not practicing self-denial upon the Sabbath. By partaking of full meals, as on the six laboring days, their minds are beclouded; they are stupid, and often drowsy; some suffer with headache. Such have no truly devotional feelings upon the Sabbath, and the blessing resting upon the Sabbath does not prove a blessing to them. The sick and suffering require care and attention upon the Sabbath, as well as upon the other six days of the week; and it may be necessary for their comfort to prepare warm food and drinks upon the Sabbath. In such instances, it is no violation of the fourth commandment to make them as comfortable as possible. The great Lawgiver is a God of compassion, as well as of justice. San Francisco Minister on Moody's Meeting Attendance
ACCORDING to one of the San Francisco ministers, the numbers attending Mr. Moody's meetings were greatly exaggerated by the press. “The attendance,” he said, “had been multiplied by two and sometimes by three. The great choir attracted many who did not care so much for the preaching.” This sounds just a little like jealousy at Moody's ability to “draw.” Should Pulpits Address Capital, Labor, and Politics?
As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle of February 8, Dr. Cruzan thinks that the relations of capital and labor and other political questions should be discussed more in the pulpit. This may be, but nevertheless it does seem to us that the apostle’s was the better plan; he wrote to the Corinthians: “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Has the subject been exhausted? has the world something really better to take its place, or has the time come when men will not endure sound doctrine? Knowing the Truth of Christian Religion
“If I could only know that the Christian religion is true, how glad I would be,” says many a soul who is struggling in the quagmire of sin and unbelief. But we may know this. Jesus gives an infallible, yet simple test, which all may put to the proof. It is this: “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” John. 7:16, 17. Try it. Submit yourselves wholly to God, repent of your sins, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by faith obey all his requirements, without reserve. This is doing God’s will. Be faithful in the trials, and the religion of Christ will be to you a blessed reality. Paris Faces Riot and Revolution Over Boulanger
It is daily becoming more evident that either riot or revolution, and possibly both, are impending in Paris. It is asserted that the night before the late legislation in that city Prime Minister Floquet proposed to the Cabinet the arrest of General Boulanger as a conspirator against the Republic. The majority of the Cabinet approved the plan, but M. de Freycinet, Minister of War, protested against it, declaring it would be sure to cause blood-shed. The project was therefore given up. Counting technically illegal ballots cast for Boulanger, his majority was nearly 100,000, and it is almost certain that, had he been arrested, revolution and blood-shed would have followed immediately. Catholic Missionaries Challenge Protestant Work Among Basutos
THE French Journal les Missions states that excellent results have followed the establishment of their college among the Basutos in Africa. But the Roman Catholic missionaries are now causing them trouble. One of the heathen customs of the Basutos, proscribed by the Protestants, was the purchase of a wife with cattle. But Rome, with her shrewd craftiness, allows it, and while formerly the Protestants had the favor of the pagan chiefs and their sanction to Christian marriages, now the chiefs complain of the strictness of their religion, and contest the validity of Christian marriage. Such is Rome everywhere. If immorality or crime is necessary to the accomplishment of her object, she will either condone it on the part of her tools, or will use it herself as a means to success. Windthorst's Motion on Religious Liberty and Jesuit Propaganda
The following dispatch to the San Francisco Daily Examiner of February 10, is an excellent illustration of Catholic liberty. When in the minority without control of power, they believe in equal rights; but give them the power, and the history of the Dark Ages would again be repeated. Doctor Windthorst is a Roman Catholic; the “Center” is a Catholic party; and the object of Jesuit propaganda in the colonies is to place political power in the church of Rome. With this explanation our readers will see how much the motion of Windthorst means:— “Doctor Windthorst has given notice that he will offer a motion to insert in the Acts regulating the judicial condition of countries under German protection, guaranties of liberty of conscience to residents and foreigners, free exercise of public worship and right of missionary propaganda. The motion has the semblance of a simple declaration of religious tolerance, but concealed under the recognition of this general principle, the Center party aims at obtaining the assent of the Reichstag to the Jesuit propaganda in the colonies.” GOD KNOWS.
By Alice Williams
God knows—not I—the devious way
Wherein my faltering feet must tread,
Before into the light of day
My steps from out this gloom are led.
And since my Lord the path doth see,
What matter if ’tis hid from me? God knows—not I—why, when I’d fain
Have walked in pastures green and fair,
The path he pointed me hath lain
Through rocky deserts bleak and bare.
I blindly trust—since ’tis his will—
This way lies safety, that way ill. His perfect plan I may not grasp;
Yet I can trust Love Infinite,
And with my feeble fingers clasp
The hand which leads me to the light.
My soul upon his errand goes,
The end I know not—but God knows.
—Alice Williams. A DREAM WORTH KNOWING.
By Mrs. M. F. Butts
I WONDER how many mothers teach their children nowadays to read Pilgrim’s Progress. It was the first romance that I read, and I cannot remember when I was not familiar with poor Christian and sweet Christiana; with Giant Despair, whose cave was strewn with pilgrims’ bones; with the lions in the way; the chamber looking to the east, that was called Peace; the Delectable Mountains, and the Land of Beulah. I have a vivid recollection of the resting-place where Christian lost his roll, and of my own childish emotion at his mishap. I do not think that I was more than five or six years old when I entered this dream world of John Bunyan’s. To me, at that time, the persons of the story and their experiences were perfectly real and most absorbing. In these days Pilgrim’s Progress is an old-fashioned book, allowed to lie on the library shelf. It would be well to introduce it to the children of the present generation. Coleridge says: “This wonderful work is one of the very few books which may be read over repeatedly at different times, and each time with a new and different pleasure. I read it once as a theologian; once with devotional feeling; and once as a poet. I know of no book, the Bible excepted, which I could so safely recommend as teaching and enforcing the whole saving truth according to the mind that was in Christ Jesus, as the Pilgrim’s Progress. I hold John Bunyan to be a man of incomparably greater genius than any of them [the divines], and to have given a far truer and more edifying picture of Christianity.” Macaulay says: “The characteristic peculiarity of the Pilgrim’s Progress is that it is the only work of the kind that possesses a strong human interest. While it obtains admiration from the most fastidious critics, it is loved by those who are too simple to admire it. In the wildest part of Scotland it is the delight of the peasantry. Every reader knows the strait and narrow path as well as he knows the road in which he has gone backward and forward a hundred times. This is the highest miracle of genius—that things which are not, should be as though they were; and this miracle the tinker has wrought.” John Bunyan was born in the village of Elstow, near Bedford, England, in the year 1628. He is said to have been “wild” in his youth,—he belonged at one time to the army of the Parliament, and afterward became a preacher, and fell under the ban of the persecutors99of the Restoration. He was confined in Bedford jail, with short intervals of freedom, for nearly fourteen years. It would seem that this wonderful allegory grew out of the author’s peculiar experience. He lived first in the Valley of Destruction; he made desperate efforts at self-improvement; and at last dropped his burden at the foot of the cross. In prison he was separated from the world, but at the same time became acquainted with many varieties of characters. He had long solitary months for meditation; his imagination was nourished by constant reading of the Bible. Bunyan had a wife and children, who often gathered around him in his prison, and for whose support he worked industriously at lace-making. Among his children there was a little blind girl, who was especially dear to him. We can easily see that these human cares and loves tempered and sweetened his imagination. From his lofty flights he was lured to earth by the voices of his children. Work for those who depended upon him saved him from too intense egotism. Common emotions linked him to the common people, and enabled him to write the wonderful book that may be called the people’s classic. Bunyan died in London, on August 12, 1688, in the sixty-first year of his age. The following stanza, written by him, well illustrates his courageous spirit:— “For though men keep my outward man
Within their locks and bars,
Yet by the faith of Christ I can,
Mount higher than the stars,”
—Mrs. M. F. Butts, in S. S. Times.
A GOOD TIME.
By Obadiah Oldschool
What strange ideas some people have of enjoyment, and how strange the ways in which they seek it. A good time—how can we have it except in getting good or doing good? A good time cannot be mere pastime; for pastime is the waste and squandering of time. As well call a spendthrift a good financier, as call one wise and happy who spends the golden hours of his earthly probation in mere amusements, though he may call them innocent. A good time is not a time of excitement, merely. It may be enjoyed as quietly as the dew falls or the sun shines. An old man in the poor-house, with a book in his hand, was asked, “What are you doing?” He looked up a moment from the printed page, and replied: “O sir, I am sitting under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit is sweet to my taste.” The feeble, friendless pauper had a good time with God and his Bible. People sometimes have a good time in very strange places. Paul and Silas sang hymns in the dungeon at Philippi, with their backs raw and bleeding, and their feet fast in the stocks. They praised God that they were counted worthy to suffer for him. And in that prison, before morning, they witnessed wonderful displays of divine grace. I have no doubt they looked back upon that as one of the happiest nights in their lives. The angels have a good time in heaven. But it would be as dull there as a prayer-meeting, to the lovers of carnal and worldly pleasure. They could find no enjoyment in those songs of praise, which roll like the sound of many waters around the throne. They cannot appreciate the beauty of holiness and the blessedness of the pure in heart who see God. Hence, it is of the utmost importance that we try to interest ourselves and others in that which is truly good—that we cultivate on earth those sources of enjoyment on which we must depend for happiness in Heaven.—Obadiah Oldschool, in the Interior. To give a child a true and noble thought of God and its own life, a thought which will deepen with knowledge and widen with experience, without forcing, later on, the painful and dangerous process of doubt and reconstruction, is a duty which no intelligent father and mother will surrender to another. Above all things, keep books which teach religion on a low plane, or present it as a morbid experience, or vulgarize it by familiarity, or falsify it by untrue illustration, off your table and out of your house. An immoral book is not necessarily a shocking book; but it is always an untrue book. There are more immoral books in the hands of children than parents suspect, for the reason that many people confound the substance of immorality with its representations. There are numberless episodes in the Old and New Testaments, and numberless great works of literature which portray immorality, and which are yet profoundly moral, because they exhibit the working out of sin into its inevitable losses and penalties. There are, on the other hand, multitudes of books which do not touch flagrant sin of any sort, but which are both immoral and demoralizing, because they are untrue pictures of life; because they furnish low instead of high motives of action; because they separate actions from their consequences; because they substitute a weak sentimentalism for the health and vigor of deep principles; because they make an easy and magical thing of something which all experience declares to be a very difficult thing, to be attained only by patient and faithful struggle. A story which deals honestly with repulsive sins, and shows how they issue in inevitable misery and degradation, is not a book for children, but at bottom it may be a much more moral work than one in which the hard and fast lines of real life fade out in an atmosphere of sentimentalism. Stories for children of a distinctively religious tendency need especially to be scrutinized with the utmost care, and no book should ever go into a child's hands which substitutes familiarity for reverence, a magical piety for downright faithful living and working, and an abnormal experience for sound, healthy, natural growth.—Christian Union. EVERY DAY WORK.
By Fireside Teacher
Great deeds are trumpeted; loud bells are rung,
And men turn round to see;
The high peaks echo to the peans sung
O'er some great victory.
And yet great deeds are few. The mightiest men
Find opportunities but now and then. Shall one sit idly through long days of peace,
Waiting for walls to scale?
Or lie in port until some “Golden Fleece”
Lures him to face the gale?
There's work enough; why idly, then, delay?
His work counts most who labors every day. A torrent sweeps adown the mountain's brow
With foam, and flash, and roar.
Anon its strength is spent, where is it now?
Its one short day is o'er.
But the clear stream that through the meadow flows,
All the long summer on its mission goes. Better the steady flow; the torrent's dash
Soon leaves its rent track dry.
The light we love is not a lightning flash
From out a midnight sky,
But the sweet sunshine, whose unfailing ray,
From its calm throne of blue, lights every day. The sweetest lives are those to duty wed,
Whose deeds, both great and small,
Are close-knit strands of one unbroken thread,
Where love ennobles all.
The world may sound no trumpets, ring no bells;
The Book of Life the shining record tells. “CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.”
By The Examiner
SECULAR papers have contained a great deal of late with reference to what is called by its teachers “Christian Science.” Scoffers who disbelieve in this new thing under the sun say there is only one fault to be found with the name its teachers have chosen, and that is, that “Christian Science” is neither science nor Christian. It occurs to us an unusually good opportunity is just now offered to these teachers to demonstrate the truth of their claims in a way that would silence all caviling. Instead of holding conventions at pleasant watering places, let them go to Jacksonville and cure people of the yellow fever. A half-dozen clear cases of undoubted cure would do more than all the newspaper articles of a century to advance the cause of Christian science. Of course, if this great discovery is what it is claimed to be, Christian science would be valuable as a prophylactic as well as a therapeutic; that is to say, it will prevent disease as well as cure it. None of the teachers who went to Jacksonville, therefore, would be in the least danger of catching yellow fever, and they could accomplish untold good in relieving those who are smitten by this dreaded disease. We commend this idea to those who are wasting so much ink in the newspapers to prove that Christian science deserves to be accepted as truth.”—The Examiner. Teach young converts that religion does not consist in raptures, ecstasies, or high flights of feeling. There may be a great deal of these where there is religion. But it ought to be understood that they are all involuntary emotions, and may exist in full power where there is no religion. They may be the mere workings of the imagination, without any truly religious affection at all. Persons may have them to such a degree as actually to swoon away with ecstasy, even on the subject of religion, without having any religion. I have known one person almost carried away with rapture, by a mere view of the natural attributes of God,—his power and wisdom, as displayed in the stormy heavens,—and yet the person had no religion. Religion is obedience to God—the voluntary submission of the soul to the will of God.—Finney. Ever Follow After That Which Is Good
“EVER follow after that which is good.” A MAN who has been out in a very dark night finds it impossible to see objects distinctly, if he suddenly enters a well-lighted room. It would be just as well, yes, even better, for him if the room were at first only partially lighted, for then his eyes would the sooner accommodate themselves to the changed conditions. So also, a man who has been in a very deep well, or a cave, cannot see when he suddenly finds himself in the blazing sunlight. Everything at first appears in a haze, then the outlines of forms begin to be seen, and finally everything stands out in full relief. The same principle holds good in other things. If you should place a work on geometry in the hands of an Indian just from the plains, you could not expect him to understand it. Its figures would convey no meaning whatever to him. Or if you should place a Greek Testament in the hands of a bright Sabbath-school scholar, it would be unintelligible to him, although he might be able to read the English language with ease. But give him a few years’ time, and he would be able to read the Greek. Yet he would not read it readily at first. He would learn the letters, then certain forms and rules, and then he would stumblingly pick out the meaning of a simple sentence. Even if a book were in a child’s own language, and he were unable to read, he would have to acquire a knowledge of it gradually. And so in everything; all knowledge is gradually acquired. Now let us apply this principle to another case. We claim that the Bible very plainly teaches that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and that no other day is, or can be, the Sabbath of the Lord. But the question comes up, Why did not all the good of past ages believe and teach thus, if it is Bible doctrine? Why did not the Reformers keep the Sabbath? The question is already answered. For centuries the Catholic Church had had supreme sway. Its policy was to keep men in ignorance, especially of the Bible; that was a proscribed book. Wherever one was found, it was burned by the priest, and the possessor treated as a heretic. The priests themselves knew nothing of the Bible. Even the cardinals and archbishops, the men in highest position in the church, were ignorant of its teachings. They were taught to look upon it as a vile book, and to look to the church for their spiritual knowledge. Among the common people the ignorance was of course still greater. There were very few who had ever seen a Bible. If they had seen one, the most of them would have spurned it as a loathsome thing, whose very touch would contaminate. Had they ventured to open its pages, it would have conveyed no more to them than if it were blank, for the Bible had not been translated into the language of the common people. The small portions of the Bible that the church allowed the priests to have, were written in Latin. And even if the Bible had been translated, to thousands it would still have been a blank; for where there is ignorance of the Bible, there is ignorance of the deepest kind. Very few of the people could read; many even of the nobles and princes could not; there was no incentive for them to do so. This was the night, the darkest part of the night; and the darkness, like that of Egypt, could indeed be felt. But night does not always last. God’s Spirit was at work in the hearts of men, and that always brings light. There were men who had all the wisdom that schools could bestow. They had been moved to acquire this knowledge by a desire to benefit their fellow-men. And yet in regard to the Bible they were as ignorant as the poorest peasant. But they were anxious to serve God, and Christ says that “if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” And so these men found the Bible, and, unmoved by the threats of bishops and popes, they translated it and studied it. The Reformation gave the Bible to the people; but they could not grasp all its truth at once. Its simplest doctrines were so directly opposed to the teachings of the church, that it took a long time for their minds to comprehend them. The one great point then needed, was to make men understand that the Pope had no power to forgive sin, or to give men license to sin, or to remit the punishment due to sin; works of penance would not suffice to gain the favor of God. “The just shall live by faith,” was the watchword of the Reformation. People must first learn to believe that the Bible, not the Pope, could alone point out the way of life. Some of the Reformers had glimpses of still further truth, but not all. The Reformation had only just begun when Luther and his fellow-laborers died. Many grievous papal errors still existed. Other men followed them, who were moved by the same spirit, and now the light began to dawn more brightly, and more and more of the Bible was made clear to men. They had become somewhat accustomed to its rays of light. Some rested content with the little light they had received, and refused to receive any more. But others looked still farther, and were rewarded by finding new treasures. And now a great flood of light shines forth from the sacred page, and men are beginning to endure the sight. But this could not have been done at once, any more than men who have been long confined in a dark dungeon could look at once upon the sun at noonday. And this answers the question, “Why were these things not found out before?” W. THE most beautiful people are not those alone who have the fairest complexions or the most graceful features, but those whose minds are lighted up with a moral radiance and splendor that fills their every act with the sunshine of a heart warmed by love, and vibrating to the touch of suffering humanity. The face upon whose brow sincerity of purpose, innocence, forbearance, patient suffering for the right, and moral purity sit enthroned, is truly beautiful. The life devoted to the service of others is in the highest degree working out its own glorious destiny. In such a life is embodied all that is true, good, and beautiful in human existence. Such service not only yields the richest reward, but affords the purest and highest possible pleasure. The humility and meekness that characterize the rendering of unselfish service make life sweet and attractive; and the soul conscious of right-doing becomes strong, yet tender; brave, yet cautious; sensitive, yet discriminating. Such a mind, while proof against all wrong influences, responds to all moral impulses—Students’ Workshop. NON-CONFORMITY
By J. W. Conning
In his manner of life and in his preaching, John the Baptist was a non-conformist. He had marvelous success for a time. Unnumbered multitudes rushed to the wilderness to see and hear this wonderful man. But after all he was unsatisfactory. The people said, “We have piped unto you and you have not danced.” Would that they could say that of every professing Christian to-day—and the poor Baptist perished in prison. And yet, as everybody knows, John was right. He was called of God to be the herald of the King, and his non-conformity to the world had the divine approval. But this last fact makes a great deal of trouble in this age. So many people want to be John the Baptist. And they think that the only way to do so is to practice non-conformity in some way, and not only practice it themselves, but try to compel everyone else to do the same. So they leap on to the rostrum, or rush into print, or go preaching around in their own community, to the great disgust of all with whom they come in contact. One’s non-conformity is in dress, another’s in language, and another’s in the aspect of his countenance. And these non-conformists after having awakened general contempt toward themselves, draw great comfort therefrom as a marked evidence of their genuine other worldliness. Poor souls! Don’t they know that John never recommended his own style of dress nor mode of speech to anybody? And if everyone had imitated him simply in these outward affairs, how quickly would he have retired in disgust at so undesired and absurd a performance! True non-conformity is in spirit. It consists in unfigured loyalty to God and one’s Heaven-appointed mission in the earth, and is not inconsistent with the exercise of the highest common sense that God has given. It is not crushed by the fear of man, it does not feast on human praise. It does not concern itself with what is unimportant, and what is innocent in human customs it does not disturb. It simply goes right on and does its duty, modestly, humbly, earnestly, in the fear and love of God. Such practices as are in manifest opposition to the word and Spirit of God, it renounces as well as denounces. Such fashions as in their nature tend to hinder the progress of righteousness, temperance, and purity, among mankind, it gives no countenance to, but earnestly seeks to overthrow. Non-conformity, the genuine article, is an abiding benediction wherever found; but it is not the most abounding grace at present in the world. It is needed in the class-meeting and prayer-meeting, and it is wanted in the pulpit and the pew, and in the private and social life of Christians generally, where there is room for it to have a place. The prayer of the church should be the antiquated one, revived and earnest, that God would save us from “a man-fearing and a man-pleasing spirit.”—Rev. J. W. Conning, in Methodist Advocate.